It is said that ten percent of the population control ninety percent of the wealth. While I don't personally know if that is actually true or not it does seem so. At any rate it is an observed fact that there are those with and those without. Those without usually out numbering those with. In my beloved world of manipulating electrons to create pretty pictures on crystal screens it seems that the situation is quite reversed. Those with are out numbering those without. Is that really true or is it simply a matter of perception? I know of quite a few people who do not have much yet are far happier than those who have a lot. Unfortunately, in this world it is perception which matters most and those who have everything perceive those who have little as second rate. Now to be classed as second rate by anyone grates. I mean, what right do other people have to judge us and find us wanting? Yet that is exactly what people do, right or wrong, it is a fact of life. The funny thing is, people think and say the same things on both sides of the fence. The computing world is pretty much divided into three unequal slices of Π. The turtlenecked sweaters, two piece suits and the all sorts. I am of course referring to Apple, microsoft and Open Source :) Each class, so to speak, looks upon the other with some measure of disdain and each believes that their leavings have no olfactory residue. I know for a fact that that is not true as anyone visiting the little room after me can testify :) From what I can gather, it comes down to microsoft people believing that open source people are only out to suck each others blood for free and that they are no more than pirates turned hippie. They believe that the Apple crowd are brainwashed into paying more for machines that do less and lull the "Joblets" into a mind dead hand held stupor. The Apple crowd think that microsoft people are nothing more than plebeians who wouldn't know a real operating system if they were smacked around the head a few times with it. They think that the "plebs" prefer quantity over quality and waste more money in the long run with endlessly crashing, poorly designed products. Open source people are thought of, if at all, as those distant relatives who still haven't moved out of the swamplands. They believe that those who go for open source are the same people who would buy a Bentley because they can't afford a Rolls. Open source advocates tend to hold both Apple and microsoft in the same disdain. They mostly shriek like outraged chimpanzees that the "corporate evil" is out to get them and like vampires, only want to suck the blood out of their customers. At the same time using and abusing the sweat and blood of the altruistic open source coders. While they do give half of a nod to Apple for for basing it's operating system on a sensible design it is an affront to them that microsoft can even deign to call it's bloated and bug filled offering an operating system. However, just owning a computer and using an operating system is not enough. The real measure of whether you are considered a second rate citizen or not, is the after market service, gadgets and thingamajigs available. It is those who manufacturer hardware and the amount of support they give to any particular operating system which, to me, is the real measure of rating level. In that respect I don't think I really need to say much on that front. It is pretty self evident where ever computer gear is sold. Are people given a choice? Do those who have already made a choice have their needs catered for? Perhaps you do buy some whatchamacallit and it develops an operating system independent problem and you want technical support. Are you forced to, er, mis-represent your operating system just to make it past the first twenty seconds with the script monkey on the other end? I, for one, do not wish to be considered second rate in my choice of life style. Just because it is good for my goose doesn't mean that you have to get your gander up and squawk down at me. If you wish me to respect you and treat you the way you think you should be treated, then do the same for me. If everybody does this then I think the Π would be much sweeter for all of us. What do you think?

Some name

I've always been fascinated with graphics and wrote my first drawing program on the venerable apple ][e. After discovering the x86 IBM clones and wrangling my way into the computer industry I'm now immersed in work as a Computer Engineer, System Administrator, OS builder (Linux from Scratch and Android) and general techno-head.

"At the end of day, it really depends on what your using the system for. I think it's safe to say that some operating systems run better that others, it's just a fact of life. Some people enjoy rebooting and virus check and the list goes on. Some people enjoy, booting up and not dealing with the system locking up or one million updates daily. It's a choice of time and money. !***! Entry Link:
Are you happy being second rate? !***!"